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This homemade chicken noodle soup recipe is so quick and easy to make, you’ll be saying goodbye to the canned stuff for good. Made with homemade chicken stock and filled with healthy vegetables, shredded chicken, and loads of noodles, this comforting recipe is hearty, soothing, and perfect on a cold winter night.
There are, quite literally, hundreds of different ways to make chicken noodle soup. Like a big hug from mom (or grandma…or the dog), this is my favorite version of the quintessential get-well-soon soup that is essential for surviving childhood, winter, and life.
Table of Contents
Readers agree this is the best chicken noodle soup recipe. Here’s what one reader had to say:
I just finished making this soup for the third year in a row. I bought a special 16 quart stock pot so I could fill it to the brim and freeze this soup for us to eat all year. We will never make another chicken noodle soup ever again. We literally threw away all the canned soups in the house. One hundred stars!
– Jamie
Ingredients
You can find the complete list of ingredients with measurements in the recipe card below.
- Broth or stock: Although they are slightly different, both chicken broth and homemade chicken stock work in most soup recipes. You may use either homemade or store-bought; however, the key to any good chicken noodle soup is having a delicious broth. Typically made by simmering chicken in water with fresh herbs or spices, traditional chicken broth for chicken noodle soup is clear and light.
- Vegetables: The most popular vegetables are onion, celery, and carrot (mirepoix).
- Herbs: In this version, I kept things super simple and only added a touch of fresh, chopped parsley after the soup finished cooking. Other popular herbs, dried or fresh, include oregano, rosemary, and thyme.
- Noodles: Traditionally, egg noodles are added because they have a higher egg-to-wheat ratio and typically hold up a little better in steaming bowls of hot chicken soup. You can also try alphabet pasta, fideo (the noodles used in Mexican noodle soup), or ditalini.
- Chicken: In this recipe, bone-in chicken pieces will be simmered in water until cooked. This will make the base of our homemade chicken stock. The cooked chicken will be removed, the meat will be shredded from the bones, and the meat will be added back to the soup toward the end of cooking.
How to Make the Best Chicken Noodle Soup Recipe
Here’s how to make perfect chicken noodle soup each and every time! Prefer to make your soup without noodles? Check out my reader-favorite chicken soup recipe.
Prepare quality chicken stock: There are long and short methods for making homemade chicken stock. The long version of homemade chicken stock is certainly worth it if you have a few extra hours on your hands, as it is somewhat similar to making bone broth. Since most of us don’t, I’ve made this recipe with a simplified version that takes just 45 minutes. The end result is a soothing, comforting broth and juicy poached chicken perfect for shredding.
Use a mix of light– and dark-meat bone-in, skin-on chicken. The bones and skin will add flavor and depth to the broth, while dark meat, naturally higher in fat than breast meat, will withstand drying out in the boiling water. You could even use a whole chicken.
If you’re short on time, purchase good-quality store-bought broth. If you don’t have the time to make your own stock, try using store-bought chicken bone broth or chicken stock. Store bought chicken broth is typically less flavorful.
Allow the veggies time to cook slowly before adding broth. Remember that jambalaya recipe I made where I talked all about this thing called the mirepoix. Well, chicken noodle soup has its own mirepoix of carrots, celery, onion, and garlic. When cooking these vegetables, the key is to cook them low and slow. This sweetens them rather than caramelizes them, creating that brothy flavor we love.
Season as you go. I start seasoning with salt from the very beginning until the very end. I salt the stock, the vegetables, and of course, the final result. Salt is your friend here. With that said, everyone will crave or require differing amounts of salt, so be conservative with each addition. As for black pepper, I wait to add it until the vegetables have started to soften.
Don’t forget about herbs. You’ll notice that I didn’t add a whole lot of fresh or dried herbs. That’s because this is a very simple chicken noodle soup recipe, and the way I prefer my soup most of the time. With that said, I always add a couple of bay leaves to the broth and top each bowl with fresh parsley. Don’t be afraid to get creative – fresh thyme and fresh chives are also great additions.
Cook the egg noodles in a separate pot of salted water. If the noodles are cooked directly in the soup, they will continue to absorb stock even after they’ve finished cooking. The end result is soggy, mushy noodles and wasted broth.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. You can make this chicken noodle soup recipe by swapping raw chicken with shredded rotisserie chicken. If you have the time, simmer the leftover carcass in a pot of boiling water for 20-30 minutes and strain it through a fine mesh strainer, before adding it to the softened vegetables. Note: I do not recommend simmering the carcass in the pot with vegetables. The chicken backbone is filled with tiny bones, and the broth really should be strained before serving.
Yes, you can freeze chicken noodle soup, but it’s best to freeze it before adding any noodles, as they tend to become mushy when reheated. Let the soup cool completely, then transfer it to freezer-safe containers, leaving space at the top. Freeze for up to 3 months. When ready to eat, reheat on the stovetop and stir in freshly cooked noodles just before serving.
Yes, homemade chicken noodle soup is hydrating, soothing, easy to digest, and full of nutrients. Homemade soup will always be healthier than store-bought soup, which is typically loaded with sodium, artificial flavors, preservatives, and falls short on what our body really needs – vegetables!
I usually serve this healthy soup with buttered bread or soft dinner rolls, but it’s also delicious with homemade croutons, Saltine crackers, flaky buttermilk biscuits, sweet cornbread, or even a slice of my yummy crustless quiche.
More Chicken Soup Recipes
If you make this Chicken Noodle Soup Recipe, I’d love to hear how it turned out in the comment section below! Your review will help other readers in the community. And if you’re hungry for more delicious food inspiration and exclusive content, join my free newsletter here.
Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup Recipe
Ingredients
- 8 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
- 1.5 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 3 quarts water
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 large yellow onions, peeled and chopped
- 6 large carrots, peeled and chopped
- 5 ribs celery, chopped
- 5 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- Juice from one lemon
- 2 bay leaves
- 12 ounces wide egg noodles, or other favorite noodles or pasta
- fresh chopped parsley, to garnish
Instructions
- Prepare the broth. Add the chicken thighs and chicken breasts to a large stockpot. Add approximately 3 quarts of water to the pot and bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer for approximately 30-45 minutes.
- Cook the vegetables. As the broth simmers, chop and cook the vegetables. Heat one tablespoon olive oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring often, for 4-5 minutes or until the onions turn translucent. Add the carrots and celery to the onions and mix well to combine. Continue to cook over medium heat for 10-15 minutes, stirring often. In the last two minutes stir in the minced garlic, mixing well to combine.
- Strain the broth. After the broth has finished simmering and the chicken has finished cooking, remove from heat. Carefully remove the chicken from the pot to a clean cutting board and strain the broth through a fine mesh strainer into the same pot as the vegetables. Shred the chicken.
- Simmer the soup. Add the shredded chicken, salt, pepper, lemon juice, and bay leaves to the pot and return soup to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes or until vegetables are fully cooked.
- Cook the noodles. As the soup simmers bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook noodles according to package instructions. Drain, rinse and toss with olive oil. Set aside.
- Serve. Add approximately 1 cup of prepared egg noodles to each bowl and ladle soup directly on top of the noodles. Garnish with fresh chopped parsley, if desired.
Notes
- Cut back on cook time and use store-bought low-sodium chicken stock with shredded rotisserie chicken. Adjust seasoning as needed.
- For a low carb version, serve this chicken noodle soup with spiralized zucchini noodles instead of egg noodles.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Would recommend using fresh ginger and Thai basil to add authentic Asian flavours
5 stars on the soup recipe, I did use a veggie broth and it was still delicious. The portions were nice for my best friend and I to eat until full. I am going to more of your recipes in the future, I recommend to anyone with a hankering for a healthy, rewarding, cozy snack/ dinner. I paired this easily with hot Microtea ( if you don’t know about this, check out my blog) and ham sandwiches on cottage bread.
You are sensational!
Made it tonight and it’s delicious!! My 4 year old declared this the best day ever because of the soup. Thanks for sharing!
How do you recommend cooking the chicken if you’re not making the broth/stock from scratch?
HI Andrea,
If you are not making the broth from scratch, you can simply poach the chicken in the broth for 30 minutes, remove the chicken breast, shred it, and return it to the pot.
This was amazing soup! Thank you so much!
Awesome chicken soup recipe! I wouldn’t have thought to saute the vegetables first for sweetness. I used to just throw everything in the pot. Sauteing the vegetables really made a difference. Also the juice of a lemon kicked up the flavor several notches. Totally happy with this recipe.
This was the first time I made homemade chicken soup, and I’m very happy to say that my husband and I both considered it the BEST chicken soup we’ve ever had! Great recipe and tutorial! Thank you!!! 🙂
I am so happy you enjoyed it Rachel!
Hi! How much lemon juice to use?
Hi Kiersten,
The juice of one lemon. On average, one lemon has 2 tablespoons of lemon juice in it.
Greetings Jessica! Thank you for your excellent tutorial on Mirepoix, that is something I will do from now on. I was never really happy with my veggies for soup cooked over higher heat, and now I know why.
You absolutely can freeze pasta, I do it all the time. It can take some experimenting, but basically you parboil (undercook) it, then run it under cold water and, as you said, never freeze it in soup or sauce, always by itself. For example, my egg noodles suggest boiling for 10-12 minutes. I drain and rinse just short of 8 minutes. Then I portion noodles and vacuum seal them. When you re-heat the noodles, you finish cooking them. Learned this trick from mom, she suggests taking 2-2 1/2 minutes off the cooking time as a good starting point.
Thanks again! Cheers
such a great recipe. Would you ever run the finished product through a blender for someone who must eat only liquids…like after lip surgery ?
Hi Sharon,
After any type of Oral surgery, I would absolutely run this soup through a blender. It will equalize the flavor but would make it easy to swallow the meal.